- Date
- May 21, 2000, 11:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N301TAPiper PA-31T1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000521023389A
- Case key
- 49255
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft. Factors were the partially engaged parking brake and the pilot's diverted attention to the engine instruments.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot reported that the parking brake was set, the left engine of the multiengine airplane was running, and he was starting the right engine. After the right engine started, the pilot checked the engine instruments. The pilot was unaware that the airplane was moving forward on the ramp. The airplane traveled approximately 75 feet, and the right engine impacted the propeller of a parked, unoccupied single-engine airplane. Post-accident examination revealed that the parking brake of the multiengine airplane was not completely engaged.
Factual narrative
On May 21, 2000, at 1150 central daylight time, a Piper PA-31T1 twin-engine airplane, N301TA, was substantially damaged when it taxied into a parked airplane on the ramp at the William P. Hobby Airport near Houston, Texas. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The aircraft was owned by TAR Air Corporation, of Bedford, Massachusetts, and was leased to the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The proposed destination for the cross-country flight was Lufkin, Texas.
According to the 2,600-hour pilot, the parking brake was set, the left engine was running, and he was starting the right engine. After the right engine started, the pilot checked the engine instruments. The pilot was unaware that the airplane was moving forward on the ramp. According to witness statements, the airplane traveled approximately 75 feet, and the right engine impacted the propeller of a parked, unoccupied Beech Bonanza single-engine airplane, N9968P.
According to the pilot and the FAA inspector, who examined the airplane, the parking brake was not completely engaged. The right engine's outboard lower mount was pulled from the firewall and the left side of the firewall was buckled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N301TA
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31T1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7904041
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-11, 500 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ralph E. Norton
- Registered owner
- Tar Air Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HOU
- Destination
- LFK · Lufkin, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- HOU · William P. Hobby
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,653 total · 53 in this make and model · 2,453 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.